It's Growing Season!

It's growing season all around here at apartment 307.  We decided to go ahead with doing an organic garden this year, just something small since we live on the third floor and have just a small balcony to work with.  With the early spring weather, we were able to start planting about a month and a half early!  And as of yesterday, we've already enjoyed two rounds of lettuce and one round of beans!  Normally down here you wouldn't be planting until after April 15th, so we were spoiled with a warmer than usual winter!  This year we are growing stringless bush beans, zucchini, bell pepper, loose leaf lettuce, herbs (spearmint, basil, cilantro, parsley, thyme, dill), strawberries, green onions, and two avocado trees.  We started everything from seed except the strawberries.  It is so fun to come home and slice off a handful of lettuce and enjoy a fresh salad for dinner.  So worth it!

baby beans after about 2 months of growth from seed

lettuce after about 2 months of growth from seed

first cilantro sprout

Lettuce at 3 months, after our first harvest.

beans and zucchini coming right along, planted in 5 gallon buckets

Our first meal including lettuce from the garden - topped with whole food black bean burger, roasted asparagus, and avocado.  Heaven on a plate!!!

Also growing at an extremely fast rate is our little nugget.  Austin has six teeth now!  Two on the bottom and four on top!  The top set came all together last week.  He has been handling his teething pretty well this time, we barely knew they were coming until the day they cut through.

Grandma Sarah - this turned out to be Austin's favorite new toy.  :)  Coming in a close second is a chip clip he snagged from the fridge door.

naked time on his potty  (Elimination Communication for anyone wondering)

My boys in their polos.  Love!  A's first day in 12 month clothes. (7 months old here)

Austin is also outgrowing all of his clothes.  Well, at least it seems that way!  He weighed in on Tuesday at his check up at 25 pounds!  (I forgot his height measurement, but he was in the 25th percentile for height.)  I'm sure every mom feels this way at some point of their child's life, but I've got to say I feel like I'm upgrading his clothing size every week!  Haha!  What fit last week fits no more!

We had a fabulous Easter, which started off with a gorgeous early morning breakfast and traditional service at a church we visited in South Carolina.  As we left the service, the youth of the church released a few dozen butterflies at the large cross on the lawn just outside the church doors.  It was about 9:00am and the sun was streaming down thick rays through the clouds.  It was a beautiful experience and the perfect way to honor Christ!  We then went to our church for a second breakfast at Christ Lutheran and the contemporary service to follow.  So we had quite the mix of everything on Easter, and we loved it!  Enjoyed a walk on the greenway in the afternoon and Yoforia before heading home.  I think we will always cherish Austin's first Easter and what a perfect day it was.

Austins' first Easter basket!  The cookies are for mom and dad.  ;)

crawling over to his Easter basket

pictures by the cross and lilies in the sanctuary

Couldn't get him to hold still long enough for a solo picture.  He thought it was so funny to grab the flowers.

Walking on the greenway on the beautiful Easter afternoon!

Here are a few videos of the cutie pie growing up!

Oh yes, and I must mention what happened to us two weeks ago.  We had gotten a babysitter for the first time and had her at the apartment set up with Austin.  Now I wish I could say we had a big date planned, however no.  We were in our office room working on the business plan and financial projections for our future business we plan to open soon.  We had four hours carved out with the sitter, and we had just sat down to start plugging numbers when there was a *knock*knock*knock* at the door.  Dave and I were pretty surprised, because we never get a knock at our door.  And I really mean never, like never in the 10 months we have lived here except for the occasional package from UPS.  I hesitantly answered, expecting to find a salesperson of some sort.  But it was our neighbor from across the breezeway.  She accidentally backed into our car!  Thankfully we had pulled in with the back of the car facing outward this time (usually Dave will back in to a spot with the front of the car facing out.  God had our back on this one!).  So Dave spent the next couple hours working out the details with a police office and insurance.  We drove the sitter home an hour early, because there was no way we could focus on our work after that.  And we haven't had the chance to touch our project since.  Ahhhh, parenthood.  :)

The damage.  Just a few scrapes and broke the light cover.  The light fixture was A.Okay!

40 Day Renewal

Austin is officially 6 months old today!  What a big boy!  He is happily jumping in his Jumperoo, looking outside, and gnawing on his fingers.  I'm sure we've got similar weather to you, unseasonably warm and beautiful.  We'll definitely be going for a walk this afternoon to soak up the gorgeous rays!  If you were here, you'd see us looking like this walking down the street:

I think I forgot to mention last time about Dave's latest project to help our community.  He is co-hosting, along with our pastors, a 40 Day Renewal series at our church.  It goes through the 40 days of Lent.  You can check out the daily blog here to take part (sorry I dropped the ball, we're already on day 22, but it is never too late to make changes to bring you closer to God!).  While it is about losing weight and regaining health (or whatever changes you need to make in your life - meditating more often, reading your Bible, talking to God, organizing your weeks, etc), it also isn't at the same time.  The bigger focus is on your "Big Why" and the changes that need to be made to renew your focus and bring it all back to God.  We're also diving into what is your Purpose.  Why are you here?  You can read about that at the bottom of each daily post.   Hope you can plug in!  We've got people from all over the world taking part -- it's really neat to see the impact that can be made from what started as just an idea earlier this year.

While the little man is occupied for a few more minutes, I just wanted to upload a few recent videos we took of him.  Hope you enjoy!  He has changed so much since the last round of videos were shared.  And thank you for the emails last week, loved to catch up with some of you guys!  Lots of changes for so many great families in the last year.  :)!  What an exciting spring and summer to come!

 

Austin is about 3 months old here.  This was the first time he really had an all-out giggle fest.  Our friend Justin is facilitating the giggles.

 

4 months old

5 months  -  learning to crawl

  

5 months -- ready for a nap, slap happy

5 months  -  night of his baptism

Austin's Baptism

Austin was baptized at church this past Sunday.  He did great!  Loved the water!  Wish we had a better video to share.  A couple used our camera and Flip so you could see.  However, we were told that the service would be recorded and available for free on iTunes.  Turns out only the sermon was recorded!  Bummer. (But Pastor Scott's message was great this week, so we recommend downloading it anyway and tuning in: http://sermon.net/rss/christlutheran/main)  We're glad we took our own video after all.  :)  We all sort of look like ghosts, but you can still see Austin's smiling face!

Austin loved the water

Happy child of Christ!

Austin waving to Grandma S & V and his Godparents "Wish you were here!"

This is the handmade chest he was given to store all of his church keepsake items over the years.

It's really nice, such a great idea!

In his Sunday best for such a special day!!

Austin will be 6 months old next week.  MY how time flies!  He is getting big, as you can see, and I have many more pictures and videos to share.  I'll try to keep it to only the cutest ones, as you know we just love to show off our little boy and would upload all 100 videos we have of him if we could!  :)  More to come soon, have to catch the time during naps!

His latest developments: he can now roll over back and forth and likes to do barrel rolls across the living room floor until Dave comes to tickle him.  He knows his name now and turns to look at you when he hears you say it.  He reaches up to be picked up and reaches out to grab toys.  He also likes to grab noses, mouths, and any other part of your face he can get his hands on.  He likes to pull mommy's hair.  During bath time, daddy dumps a stream of water in front of Austin's chest and he likes to reach out and let the water run through his fingers (so cute!!).  And, it has started.  Teething symptoms have been emerging in the last few weeks and we can feel three little bumps on his gums. 

Quick update on the happenings of Dave and Elise.  Dave is up to the usual, practice is going well and he's just loving every day that he gets the opportunity to serve.  We have set a goal to have our own practice doors open by October of this year.  So we're just starting the beginning steps of all that.  The plan is still Greensboro, NC.  It's about 2 hours north from Charlotte.  I'm sure more news to come as we make strides with build out and the move and all!

For me, life as mommy is a thousand times more pleasurable than I could have ever imagined!  It's so SO amazing to watch God's little creature grow up, and to realize He chose me to care for him is something I think about and cherish every single day.  Austin and I have fun while daddy is at work.  We go for at least one walk every day and fill the rest of the time playing on the floor or reading books in bed.  Ahhh, life is so good!

More Videos

Videos of the Little Man

Happy Thanksgiving!!  Hope you are all enjoying the break from work to take time with family and (hopefully) good food!  We are doing our first Thanksgiving for just us, no friends or fam this year.  It's kind of fun so far, but we would love to be near family today.  We are doing an Advanced Plan dinner this year, and we decided to skip lunch and eat a later meal today, around 5pm.  I also decided to wait and make everything fresh today.  So far hasn't been a bad decision, even though I could have made just about everything the night before and baked today.  I was in the kitchen for three hours so far making breakfast, side dishes and dessert.  Taking a break now, then just two more hours to go and our meal is complete and ready to eat!  I'm only using two recipes from my Season's Eatings holiday cookbook, the rest are new and will be posted on Healing Cuisine in the next week or two.  The menu at Chez Schwartz:  Individual Cornish Hens with Dijon Mustard Herb Glaze, Homemade Gravy, Garlic Mashed Fotatoes, Caramelized Sweet Potatos, Green Bean Casserole, Sunshine Broccoli Salad, and Blueberry Crumble.  And we had Baked Apples with Praline Whipped Cream and Pumpkin Muffins for breakfast.

Can you tell I'm excited about today's meal??  :)  Go figure.  Always excited to try a new recipe and make it "Advanced"!  Dave is playing Mr. Mom today and doing a fabulooous job!  We can tell Austin is loving his extra Daddy time.

As requested by Grandma, we wanted to share some videos of Austin.  He is growing up so quickly!  He turned 2 months old this past weekend.  The weeks have certainly flown by.  He is getting chubby and starting to giggle and coo now.  His temper is also starting to show when we move or stop bouncing him, anything he doesn't want to do.  Dave reminds me, while it might not be fun at times, we are blessed with an independent child from the start.  Here is the first video, more to come as i have the time to upload them...maybe later tonight or tomorrow.

We are so grateful for Austin, and all of God's blessings onto us this last year!!  Lamentation 3:22-24:  The faithful love of the Lord never ends!  His mercies never cease.  Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.  I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!”  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

Happy Halloween!

Our little monster!  Halloween night, we dressed Austin up just for fun, even tho we didn't do any door-to-dooring.

Our Smiley Austin Wayne

Announcing the arrival of our first bundle of joy, Austin Wayne.  Born Sunday, September 18 at 5:32am, 7lbs 4oz, 21 inches.  We call him our smiley baby:

Austin had his newborn photo shoot this past Tuesday, and our photographer, Lora, was able to capture some of his most precious moments, including this photo of Austin smiling sweetly.  Warms my heart every time I look at it!  Check out more of Austin's photos here on Lora's facebook page.

Austin is such a sweet, sweet baby.  He's almost always in a good mood, and we just can't get over how cute and cuddly he is!  He's always making us smile.  Dave and I could just sit and stare at him all day!  Here is more of Austin smiling:

And now back to parenthood for me!  Enjoy the video :)

Waiting Somewhat Patiently

Just a quick note that we are still patiently waiting the arrival of our little Schwartz!  At 40 weeks right now, so we know it can be any moment (or still a week or two in the distance).  Of course I'm wanting it to be happening right now, but trusting in my body and baby's perfect timing.  Been saying I feel like a watched pot that never boils...  It's hard to keep my mind distracted, but I'm trying!

Baby S at 40 Weeks

Went thru a night of prep surges a few days ago, so Dave took the liberty of getting the apartment all ready for the birth.  Birth tub is set up, plastic covering all the floors, bathrooms and kitchen spotless, and all our birthing and baby's first items are set out on our dining table for easy access.  So proud of this dad-to-be!  I can tell he's just a little excited for what's to come.  ;)

So, we're ready when you are Baby S!  Thank you to all those praying for us!  We've been asked by our prayer warriors for specific birth prayer requests, and wanted to share them with you all as well: that Elise stays calm and relaxed thru labor and birth, that baby and mom work together with each surge, Elise to stay focused thru each stage, and a calm entry into the world for Baby S the way that God intends.

As a friend told me yesterday, no news is...no news.  Lol!  We'll post pictures as soon as we can after the birth!

Realized we needed a family picture before baby arrives!  Check out the ficus tree Dave got me (we've always wanted one).  He wanted us to have it in time for the labor and birth.  Very "zen".  :)

Summer in Charlotte

Well hi everyone!  Burning up or melting away in all this summer heat yet?  We sure are!

We've been up to plenty since our last post.  Biggest news is we moved out of our little room in the cat apartment and into our very own two bedroom apartment about a minute from Dave's office!  YES!!!!  It's been so great having our own space again.  It's been about 1 year since we've lived in our own place, just in time for baby Schwartz to arrive.  Two weeks ago Dave took some time off from his clinic and we ventured home to Houghton to pick up all our stuff from my mom's house.  She'd been storing it for us in her basement since last summer, bless her!  We flew up then drove a truck back down to Charlotte.  All in all the move went great!  Dave did all the heavy lifting and we now have furniture again, as well as more than one plate, bowl, and sauce pan!  It's been like Christmas every day since as we get the  boxes unpacked and things put away in the apartment.  We honestly forgot we owned some of the stuff we have!

It worked perfectly that Kevin & Samantha's wedding in Oshkosh was the same weekend we took the trip, so on the drive down we were able to be at their wedding.  It was so fun!  We always love seeing everyone and spending time catching up with all of you guys!  We had a great time!  My favorite part was the ice cream cake for dessert!!  First time we saw that at a wedding, so fun!  Congrats to Kevin & Sam!

The pic below was taken outside at their wedding reception, baby belly at about 34 weeks.  Since this picture was taken, baby has dropped!  So imagine the belly about 2 or 3 inches lower..and yes, I'm feeling it!  But babe and I are moving along right on track for a successful homebirth.  We will try to update the blog with pictures and details as soon as we can after the birth!  Or I'm sure we'll at least have time to post a picture or two to Facebook between feedings... :)  I am so so excited to meet this little baby!  Nesting is also in full swing, and in the past two days, looking back, I can't believe how much work I've done!  The apartment is cleaned top to bottom, baby clothes washed and laid out, blankets and towels washed and ready, and all the other baby stuff is set up ready for use.  Last thing on the list is to stuff our freezer full of meals to last us at least a month.  I've got an estimated 4 weeks to do this, but will probably get started this weekend with the meal plan at least.  It's all coming together, and soon God's greatest gift will be delivered to us!

Baby Belly - 34 weeks

A little update on Dave, or should I say Dr. Dave?  His clinic is growing every day.  We try to get out almost every afternoon or evening to meet families who need our help.  Something Dave and I have set up most recently is a health and wellness group at our church.  We're calling it "The Pulse."  It'll launch this fall just after baby's born.  If you want to check out the article, they featured us on the front page of the church's August newsletter.  And the church ladies were so sweet to also included a little personal blurb about us at almost the end of the newsletter, too.  Sunday was fun as we heard whispers from behind us, "I think that's them..." as people recognized our faces.  We're so excited to get even further plugged in to the church and make some great friends here in Charlotte!

Wish I had time to write more, just using the Internet at Dave's office while he is in with a patient.  He's almost finished up and then we're off to home to eat dinner.  (I am starving!!)  We are getting Internet hooked up at home on Monday, so soon we will be back to normal again.  And I'm sure our next post will be pictures of Baby Schwartz! :)

Baby Schwartz Update

Hi all!

We're at 26 weeks this week.  Baby Schwartz sure is growing up fast!  I am now officially out of all my regular pants.  I'll admit to wearing Dave's shorts most days that I don't have to go out in public.  :)  Here's an updated belly picture that we took yesterday.  Had to laugh again, because we decided it was best to take it outside, in the sun, hence my squinty face again.  Next month will need to remember to do an indoor shot!  It's so cool to feel the little life moving around inside of my belly.  Surreal still sometimes.  And the weeks are just flying by.  Just a few more months to go!  We can't wait!

26 weeks baby belly

Next week we are starting our HypnoBirthing birth classes.  This is the natural birth method we have decided to go with.  I'll be combining it a little bit with the Bradley technique, and they go very well together.  We finally decided on HypnoBirthing for the sheer fact that it focuses on teaching mom (me) how to relax thru the labor, making it safe and easy for both mom and baby.  I've got to say, relaxing is one of my weaknesses, especially when having to work hard at something, so that was my #1 deciding factor on going with HypnoBirthing.  And if you haven't heard of HB before, just know it's not actually "hypnosis," as the name may suggest.  I won't be hypnotized or anything during the birth.  But it's the art of getting your mind to the state of self hypnosis (the super relaxed feeling you have just before you drift off to sleep).  We all enter this state multiple times per day (when we day dream).  Our classes will focus on teaching me how to control my enter and exit into that state of mind while still being in control of my body functions.  It's pretty exciting stuff!  So much more goes in to it, but that's the basis of the philosophy, used for hundreds of years!

For all of you Minnesotans who have been emailing asking for updates and wondering what baby items we need, well I'm finally getting this out to you!  Now please don't feel like you need to get us anything.  You'll see the list below, we have been so so blessed already with numerous items for baby.  What we need is simply your love and support thru the pregnancy and birth!  I love getting your emails and sharing the little parts of the amazing experience of pregnancy with you.  It's great to feel so connected to you all even when we're so far away.  xo!!

What we have:
We've been so extremely blessed with new friends with big hearts both in Orlando area and Charlotte, as well as old friends in Minneapolis.  We have been given some great items in perfect condition that moms were ready to part with.  Wanted to post the list here, in one central place, so everyone is on the same page.  We already have -

Pack-n-Play with sleeper attachment
Car seat/stroller combo
Baby swing
Bumbo
Boppy pillow
Winter jacket/snow suit
Shopping cart cover
Dirty diaper bin
Bouncer chair
Moby wrap (baby carrier)
Set of cloth diaper
Plenty of newborn size caps and mits
Plenty of bibs
and most likely going to get a glider chair from someone on Craigslist

So, as you can see, we have a lot of the big items already.  We are so grateful for all of the support.  Thank you to all who have donated to our family!  We will keep the baby tithing circle going!

What we need:

CLICK HERE TO VIEW REGISTRY

Check our baby registry at Amazon.com.  What I love about Amazon is that you have the ability to check something off if you found it somewhere else.  So please please, our goal is not to get a bunch of gifts or have a ton of money spent on our baby.  We much prefer to have used or borrowed items, not only to cut costs, but our way of staying green.  If you don't mind helping us by keeping an eye out at garage sales, consignment stores, or asking friends if they have any of the items similar to what's on our Amazon list for sale, we would much appreciate it!  If you do find something for us, go ahead on the list and click the "Buying this gift elsewhere" link.  Thanks guys!!  We will happily reimburse the cost and shipping!

Clothes...!  This is something we're not putting on our registry.  Hoping to acquire all used clothes either from garage sales or second hand stores, or a family who is willing to give or lend to us.  Since we are doing an all-natural pregnancy and birth, we are waiting to find out if it's a boy or girl.  So hold off for now and picking out dresses or a lot of pinks or blues!  We're all for neutrals, purple, green, orange, yellow, brown...  Or in general waiting to get clothes for baby until after the birth and we know if it's a He or She.

We will appreciate:

Marshall's gift card
Amazon.com gift card
Harris Teeter gift card

Dave says hi to everyone reading this!  He's doing well both personally and professionally.  His start up is going great.  Most every day we're out at a community event of some sort meeting people and spreading the word of what we do at Family Healing Chiropractic.  His practice is growing and we're so happy to finally be settling into what we've been planning for so long.

I've got to say though, this North Carolina heat is brutal!  It's been 4 straight days of 90 degree weather.  At least humidity hasn't been too bad.  I don't know if it's just because we're used to Michigan/Minnesota summers, but we can't stand to be outside more than an hour!  Monday was brutal...we were at a 10 hour Memorial Day fundraiser event at a local band shell park.  At least we had the shade of our pop-up tent!   Besides the heat in general that day, let me just say it was no fun being pregnant, having to go to the bathroom every at least hour, and only having access to a porta-potty in 90+ degree weather.  That pretty much sums up my Memorial Day experience.  ;)

Also at the Memorial Day fundraiser, The Patriot Festival, they opened the day in a pretty amazing way.  Check out this clip.  Two paratroopers who were wounded veterans dove from high above the band shell and landed dead center of a flag marked out on the ground, surrounded by the crowd of people.  I was hoping to find a full video of the jumps, but all the news stations cut down their clips.  We had forgotten to bring our camera with us on Monday..  For Channel 14, the one I linked, the camera guy was standing right next to Dave and me shooting the entire 10 minute jump.  Too bad we didn't make the final cut, haha.  It was quite amazing to see and experience the paratroopers.  The patriotism in the crowd instantly grew stronger when we saw the red smoke streaming from their backs and the three flags drop down, waving thru the sky.  Such a beautiful tribute to all those who have sacrificed for our freedom.

Hope you all had a blessed weekend!  Take care everyone!

Hello from beautiful NC

Well folks, we made it!  We've been here in Charlotte for almost 3 weeks now, hard to believe time has gone by this quickly.  It took us that first week to really get settled in, drive around our south part of town getting to know the streets, and start plugging in to community groups and find a church.  But we've made great progress!

We started our trip up on Good Friday.  Not the most ideal time to be making a move, but with Dave's end date at his clinic in Orlando and start date in North Carolina, we really only had Easter weekend as opportunity for traveling.  The entire trip from Orlando to Charlotte was about 11 hours I think.  Plenty of stops along the way as baby was pushing on my bladder.. Dave didn't like that part so much "Um...Dave, don't get mad (because this is the third time in two hours), but I have to go..again."  "Now?"  "Yeah, like, NOW.  Next place we see, okay?!!"  Good times, good times.

We split our trip into two days, drove about 8 hours to Augusta, Georgia to see Dave's brother Eric and family.  Were able to spend the night with them and part of Saturday morning.  So great to see them again -- I think it had been two years!  Their girls are getting so big, blossoming into little beauties!  On Saturday, we drove the remaining 3 hours straight up to Charlotte.  Beautiful drive as we entered South Carolina and into North Carolina.  We missed the trees!!!!  Let me say, Orlando (Florida in general) just didn't feel like home without the trees!  NC really reminds us of the UP, just a little bit warmer.  And we like that.  ;)

We stopped at Daytona Beach on the drive up to Augusta.

It was beautiful!

For these first few months, we'll be renting a room from a woman just to help us save a little cash as Dave begins his business.  We arrived and met her, got moved in (it only took us a half hour to get all our stuff moved from our car and put away in our room, ha!), then took a drive around the main part of town looking for natural grocery store options.  Unfortunately there aren't many co-ops here, one thing we miss most from Minneapolis.  There is also, surprisingly, no Whole Foods here!  We were shocked!  There is an Earth Fare, which is a small scale Whole Foods.  We'll be seeking out local organic grass fed farmers soon though.  It's been a while since we had some quality meat products, and Dave is sure missing his chicken and beef!  But Earth Fare will do for now.

Now, what else?  Well, probably the most exciting news is that Dave started his practice pretty much immediately after we moved.  As of today, he's about 3 weeks in.  We had Easter Sunday to relax, settle in, and celebrate all the good things God has done for us.  Then, Monday morning we were at the grindstone.  So far everything is going great.  My job is more of the networking stuff from home, setting up local events and community outreach for Dave.  And he's been doing everything else.  That's what I just love about Dave, he's able to go out and get it done.  He's doing awesome and he is SO happy to finally be living his dream.  I am so proud of him.  He is really in his element and already making a mark in Charlotte.  More news to come on this adventure I'm sure!  :)

I must share a sort of funny story about the apartment we're renting a room in.  The woman has a cat, but Dave and I are both very allergic.  She agreed to give the cat away the week before we moved in, since he was a mostly outdoor cat anyway, she wouldn't know the difference.  The only time she let him in was at bedtime.  So, we said "deal."  The apartment is a great opportunity and the rent was too good of a deal to pass up.  So we began our trip up from Orlando.  Well, we were about 2 hours from arriving at her apartment, and she texted us to say she came home from work to find her BOY cat had given birth to five kittens!!!  haha, for a few minutes we didn't know how to react.  We ended up laughing about it. I mean, how hilarious that for a couple years since she got the cat she thought it was a boy.  What a surprise that must have been to come home to!  Wanted to share a few pictures of the absolutely adorable little ones.  It just stinks for us as we're putting up with the cats in the apartment all this time until they're old enough to be given away.  Counting down the days (and so are my sinuses!), but until then we definitely enjoy their cuteness.

Five adorable kittens with mom.  Four grey & white, one black.

They just can't keep away from Dave!

They love to climb on him, but their little claws don't retract yet and get stuck in his mesh pants or shorts.

Precious!  Wish you could hear their "mews."

And, I think that's about it for now.  Oh, a little baby update..  Dave got to feel baby Schwartz kick for the first time tonight!  Very exciting moment.  He's such a proud daddy!!  Everything is going great, he/she is growing by the day.  I told Dave earlier that today was the first time my belly has gotten in my way.  But, I love it, wouldn't have it any other way.  Being pregnant is a really fun experience, such a blessing.  One more week and I'll post my monthly belly pic.  Right now it's looking like a little basketball.  I'm feeling great, just a little tired mid-day which requires (as I tell Dave, hehe) me to nap for an hour or two.  I actually felt it pretty bad this past weekend while we were out at an all-day event both Saturday and Sunday.  No nap either days, and man was I struggling!  So whenever I can get in a few extra zzzz's, it's a good day.

More in a week!

Charlotte, here we come!

Got to post really quick here as I'm running out of time before work!

We've been doing a lot of praying and weighing out our options since January when we found out Baby Schwartz was on the way.  It was either to stay in Florida thru the fall, a bit longer than planned, and open our clinic toward the end of 2011  OR  to leave the Maximized Living training program and seek work else where for a year or two before opening our clinic.  Well, everything has kind of come together week by week.  God was definitely pointing us in a certain direction.  We have decided to leave the ML program for now.  As of THIS FRIDAY we are moving to Charlotte, North Carolina!  Dave has accepted an independent contractor position at a Maximized Living office in Charlotte.  It's a great opportunity for us as Dave will have is own patients and all, but we won't have to pay start up costs of a brand new business.  We are so blessed!  This opportunity will allow us to get on our feet and prepare for baby.  We plan to be in Charlotte about 1-2 years if all goes well.  You can start making plans now for visits.  ;)  North Carolina is a beautiful state!  We'd love to have you!

So this is why I am in such a rush at the moment.  Spent too much time packing, even though I wanted to get this post and a few other things done online before work.  But, we'll get it all done in time.  We always do!

And really quick, here is my first "official" baby belly picture.  I have just entered week 20.  To me, my belly is really big.  Pants don't fit anymore and shirts are all getting tight.  Everyone thinks I'm looking tiny though.  I just keep telling myself God is only going to put inside of me what I can push out.  My baby will be the perfect size for me!  No need for comparison to others.  Mindset is everything when preparing for a healthy birth.  :)

Also here is a picture of the palm tree in our front yard, with house in the back.  We have two palms, but this one was the smaller of the two.  Couldn't get a good picture of the other because it is so tall!  We'll miss the little things of Orlando, but at the same time are happy to be leaving.  We feel much more suited to Charlotte and North Carolina.

We'll write again soon after getting settled in Charlotte!  More soon! :)  OH!!  And we wish you all a very blessed Holy Week and Easter Sunday!!  HE IS RISEN, ALLELUIA!

First summary from Orlando... :)

Why hello friends!

Yes, we are still alive and kickin'!  Actually, quite enjoying our time here in Florida.  A couple of reasons we've been MIA here on our blog for the past few months...#1) our jobs at the Maximized Living clinic are going wonderfully!  While our training is keeping us extremely busy physically, we wouldn't change this life for any other!  Every day we are given the opportunity to help so many people and save their lives.  It is so much more than we could have ever imagined -- can't wait to do this in our own clinic soon!!  Ready to transform lives in Greensboro!! :)

We spend about 20-30 hours each week in the clinic taking care of patients and helping in the office.  Dave and I also go out into the community to volunteer our time for about 20 hours each week, more or less depending on what events we have arranged.  We host a lot of health makeover/nutrition/toxicity/exercise workshops all around Orlando.  Various organizations invite us out (YMCAs, churches, grocery stores, schools, etc) and Dave leads the workshops of their choice.  It's a lot of fun meeting so many great people, and it's a fabulous experience helping each one of them transform their health!  I'll admit my favorite part about doing community events are the ones that have us outside for a few hours on the weekends -- like community festivals or fairs.  Temperatures here in Florida are basically perfect right now, 70's/80's and low humidity!  It's like the U.P. in July, haha!  There are some times that we walk outside and forget it's February/March..

Any time we have left outside the office and community events is spent training on protocols (mostly Dr. Dave's work) and Healing Cuisine (mostly my work).  And for fun, we've still got $1 RedBox DVD rentals and board games (cheap fun, right? haha).

So, on to reason #2 of our preoccupied-ness... The first morning here in Orlando, January 3rd, also our first day of work, we found out we are pregnant!! :)  A great start to our day, an early morning pregnancy test, hehe!  So this reason #2 is probably the more prominent reason why I haven't been so diligent about updating our family blog.  On top of our daily requirements with the clinic, I've also been battling nausea and the extreme need for naps.  I am very happy to say that I am officially into trimester 2, PTL (that's Praise The Lord), so food is going down more easily and my appetite is finally picking up.  Also, baby bump is starting to show!  Pictures to come...  Dave and I are SO EXCITED!!!  We have been waiting 2+ years for baby Schwartz, and finally the time has come.  I'm planning to write a more detailed testimonial of my health on Healing Cuisine about my fertility and health issues over the past few years.  I've not talked to many about this, just close family and a few friends, but I am finally ready to share my story and hope other women will find it as inspiration to seek help outside of drugs and surgery to conceive naturally.  More to come on that, I'll link back the post here when I get it up!

We are planning, as we're calling it, a 100% organic and natural birth!  We had our first appointment with our midwife last week and covered all the basics with her.  Baby is healthy and growing right on schedule.  I have all the normal "symptoms" of pregnancy.. we're healthy and happy.  Still quite a few things to plan out in the coming months to be ready for the birth, but we'll get there!  The biggest question at the moment is where will we live.  We will be doing a home birth, and right now we are living in a small house with 5 other people...the landlady and her daughter who live here speak only Spanish.  Nothing really works in our favor here.  So, trying to figure out if we want to birth baby in Orlando or somewhere else (like North Carolina or in Michigan).  Most likely we'll find a happy home here in Orlando, but who knows what the next few months will bring.  No matter what, we are just putting our complete trust in God!  He's given us our first baby as a complete surprise much sooner than we could have hoped, and we are trusting He knows the best path for us! :)!!

Also, if anyone has questions about natural birthing, why we are doing a home birth, or any questions relating to baby at all, please don't hesitate to email or call.  We look forward to it!  We are, as always, an open door!

At this time, I must give props to Dave who has been taking outstanding care of me for the past two months!!  I've got to admit, food prep and cooking makes me sick to my stomach.  I've had to literally run from the kitchen every time I attempt to make us a meal.  So, Dave has been THE BEST HUSBAND doing all the cooking and meal packing since January!!  Recipes you've seen on my blog, yup, Dave prepared those!!  I don't know what I would do without him!  He's so willing to try, such a blessing! :)  If he doesn't know how to do something, he'll run back into our bedroom and ask how much of this to put in, or what temperature to put the pan on..so sweet.  And let me say, he makes an omelet a thousand times better than me!!  If you ever stay at Hotel Schwartz, you will have to stay for breakfast and enjoy one of Dave's delicious omelets.  Cheese is my personal favorite, but his best is spinach and zucchini with feta!  Mmm, mmm, good!

I'm hoping to get some pictures of our Florida life up on here soon!  We have two palm trees in our front yard, which I think is incredibly cool!  There are also all these weird looking plants everywhere -- they remind us of Jurassic Park.  So, pictures to come next.  You have that to look forward to. ;)

If we haven't thanked you by phone or email yet, THANK YOU for all the cards and love since we moved here!!  Every card and drawing is hanging on our wall.  We have just a tiny room to ourselves, cluttered with our clothes, cooking utensils and pantry items.  The love on the wall really brightens our day, every day!  We appreciate it so so much!  Reminds us of all of you who have touched our lives and who we can never forget! :)  Many blessings to each one of you!

Merry Christmas

Hello everyone!

It has been much too long since my last post.  I've been putting all my of free time into Healing Cuisine, and thus have neglected you all.  We are home for Christmas, finally, and it feels great!  At the Schwartz house presently, hanging out while we bake cookies, sip tea, the girls are playing their instruments (flute, piano, singing), and the boys are outside skiing and tinkering with the car.  Very relaxing, so glad to be here. :)

Dave and I have been all over the place for the last 6 months, including living in Canada for 3 months.  Dave has graduated with his Chiropractic degree (CONGRATS DAVE!!!!) and we are now working on opening our chiropractic clinic.  We've been living nomadically since August, going from basement to basement living with various friends all over the place.  On January 1st we will be driving down to Orlando, Florida to relocate for about 6 months.  We'll be training and working with Maximized Living while plans commence on our office in Greensboro, North Carolina.  Greensboro will be our eventual permanent home.  Well, permanent for a little while at least. ;)  2011 is going to be a busy year for us!  Hope to  have our clinic doors open by July if all goes well.

Want to wish you all a very blessed Christmas!  Our next update will be from sunny Florida!!  Visitors welcome!

"Look!  The virgin will conceive a child!  She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means 'God is with us.'"  Matthew 1:23

Dave Made It

So I meant to get this story posted like 2 weeks ago when it actually happened, but I've had to focus on a few other things until now.  I think Facebook informed the majority of you of the happenings when Dave tried to cross the border to get in to Canada...  I'm going to give the short story because it's late, but I promise it will still be enjoyable!

Dave left Minneapolis on a Saturday afternoon and planned to cross the border Sunday afternoon, a 14 hour trip.  He actually made it there a lot sooner and arrived on Sunday morning.  He Skyped me (remember, we're without cellphones!) from his table at a restaurant somewhere just off the border to tell me the exciting news that he was going to arrive ahead of schedule and get to relax a bit and get settled in before starting work on Monday.  He told me to get back on Skype in 2 hours and by then he'd be in his new home and getting things settled.  Two hours came...and I waited and waited...nothing for a while.  Finally he came on and was in another restaurant.  So I said, "wow, that was quick.  You all moved in?" thinking it was extremely amazing he got across the border, got all of his stuff moved in, then had the energy after that long trip to head out for food.

"Bad news," he said.  My stomach dropped.  I call him Mr. Optimistic you know..he's my rock, my foundation.  Whenever Dave says "bad news," that means it's realllly bad.  And after 2 years of marriage, I know to just ask for the details, "Don't sugar coat it" I said.."Just tell me the details cut and dry."  I immediately started thinking of all the worst possible scenarios.  He wrecked the car, lost his passport, what could possibly have gone wrong when he was so close?!

"The border patrol won't let me thru to Canada."  WHAT!?!  We both started freaking out.  I will spare the details of the string of papers Dave had to fill out and other things they required him to do, but basically the border didn't let him through because he was heading over as a student intern and they didn't want American Dave to take away any potential internship opportunities from Canadians.  Hence all the paperwork and hoopla to prove he was qualified to intern at the office he chose.

So over Skype we set up a game plan.  Contact Dr. B.J. and let him know Dave wouldn't be at work until who knows when.  Call the chiropractic boards and get the paperwork started.  And then we realized Dave was stranded in a small town in Michigan...great.  Thankfully he thought of the Bittners, a Maximized Living doctor and family who live outside of Detroit.  Dr. B.J. tracked down their info and Dave was able to get in touch with them.  They were such a blessing!  The Bittners took Dave in for 3 days, fed him and helped him get all that paperwork stuff finished.  They were so sweet and we are so grateful to be involved in such a gracious network of chiropractors in Maximized Living.

Come Tuesday, Dave had all of his forms and letters in order.  He made his second attempt to cross the border.  Of course his account was flagged from his last attempt, so they pulled him and searched him.  Dave said they even did thorough questioning for hours trying to see if his story checked out.  (As if someone could make up a story about being a chiropractic intern and going to London, Ontario for their last trimester and super excited to learn from one of the leading chiropractors in North America, plus all the other details of his life that he had to go thru.)  Finally, after hours of sitting in a room with the guards, Dave told me he finally started pleading for them to let him through.  The lady that was with him said, "Okay, I believe your story.  But this doesnt check out" (Referring to something he needed but didn't have or something like that.)  "I'll write it off for you." PRAISE THE LORD was all I could think when Dave FINALLY Skyped me late that night.  We were anticipating it to take just a couple hours to drive thru, have everything go smoothly, and be on his way to London.  Well we didn't expect the hours of questions, that's for sure.  Dave was exhausted, but happy to be at his new house in his new room ready to start what he came to Canada for.  Ahhhh.

As of this weekend, Dave has been gone three weeks and everything since crossing the border has been smooth sailing.  He's having an absolute BLAST up there, learning something new and great every day.  And everyone is taking care of him, Dr. B.J. and the office staff are phenomenal.

I'm going to throw up some pictures in random fashion from the last few weeks before Dave left.  These were the events we attended prior to him leaving.

We made ice cream for the Maximized Living Club potluck that we held at our apartment complex just the next week after Dave's surprise graduation party.

Here we are at Mike & Lori's wedding in Sault Ste Marie, Canada 2 weeks prior to Dave leaving for Canada.  We're on the bus here with the rest of the wedding party.

Lori and Mike, on the bus to escape the rain that stopped their outdoor picture session...we were on to the photography studio next.

Us with the beautiful bride!  This is toward the end of the night.

I love my husband.  I love dancing with my husband!  :)

Next was Dave's farewell night out with his coworkers at Bandana Chiropractic.  It was also on our 2 year anniversary.  We celebrated with some organic goat cheese cheesecake with pistachios and fresh berries.  It was delicious.

Here is the gang, we had a blast!  Thank you all for treating us to a fun night out!

The next big event was Suzy and Rob's wedding.  It was also the last day Dave was here, so it was an extra special day for us.  Unfortunately this is the only picture that semi turned out from their wedding...it's THE KISS! :)

Posing by the water awaiting the bride and groom's arrival.

Our besties, Mark and Nicole <3

And that's it from our lovely last month together in the Twin Cities!  And just a reminder to those who are still trying to call us:  we do not have cell phones anymore.  :)  I giggle every time I get an email from someone that says they've tried to call and it doens't go thru.  Try us on Skype!  drdaveschwartz or elisejschwartz

Thanks to everyone for making Dave's last few weeks in Minnesota a blast!  We both had a great time! :)

Moving on

Just a quick message from the couch at my mom's house.  :)  Taking some me time to de-stress and refocus my goals.  I am hanging out here for two days before Mike and Lori's wedding in the Soo on Saturday.  Dave just left with Joel for Mike's bachelor festivities for the next two days.  They are ready for a weekend of fun!  Especially Dave, he's excited to see his buddies again and get some time off before moving himself to Canada and starting full time work again.  He needs this break!  His MIND needs this break!

The past couple days here have been absolutely nutz.  All good things, just the stress that goes along with moving.  We are successfully moved out of Hampshire Hill in Bloomington!  Half of our belongings are now here in Michigan, half still in Minnesota.  We sold all of our furniture on CraigsList.com!  Wahoo!  We only kept our amazing bar stools (a wedding gift from Mike and Lori) and our small kitchen table.  Our bed and frame were the last to sell and we were sad to see them go, but made the last minute decision to sell them after thinking about all the hassle moving them would bring.  We'll be sleeping on an air mattress once we arrive in Florida in 2011.  For now, I'll be living with my FABulous friend Jan in Maple Grove in her spare room (with a bed).  Dave's family in London also has a bed for him.  I am excited to be moved very close to work, saving me 30-40 minutes of drive time twice a day!!  It's going to be a marvelous Monday morning! :)

All in all, we only had to make two trips with our stuff up here.  Not too bad!  We downsized a lot and it felt great to shed all the "junk" we never use.  I highly recommend doing it as you transition or if you're stuck in a rut.  It opens your eyes to what's truly important and gives you the opportunity to refocus your life on what you want to achieve.

Also have been meaning to throw this picture on here:

The day after Dave's surprise party, after all the family had headed back home and friends said their goodbyes, we headed out with Mark & Nicole and their friend Elyse (!!) to the horse races!  We've had this list of "Things I Want To Do Before I Leave This Summer" with all the major Twin Cities events we hadn't done yet.  The Canterbury Park horse races was definitely one of them!  This is their 25th Anniversary I believe, so all year is free admission.   We brought $7 with us and won on our first two or three races...then we got maybe a little to cocky and blew all our winnings.  Oh well.  We went for the experience.  :)  And it was a blast!

That's it for now.  Excuse me while I stretch out and flip thru some channels on the tube.  :)

-Elise